sb mill matrimony
TRANSCRIPT
STORIES of WALL STREET —■»SB Mill ■
Matrimony Syndicate
23k JAMES H. GANNON, Jr. ^ittaaFswmaj&£3smafK*,x’itJBmmnamz?Ts ■nmoaBK ts
Copyright, by Street <fc Smith.
-- MONO the many deals, al- wa; s spectacular and most times remunerative, engi- neered through the maze
of Wall street by Joseph W. Barr—the Dick Turpin
--of Finance, ns scandalized financiers insisted hint to be—the one
, which Barr himself was proud- , wan that he ever referred to laugh- ine:\ as the "corner in matrimony"'
The street called it the "deal in
Suburban Trolley," and ranked it
aiming the lesser accomplishments of
lie- daring western operator. But
Parr, who had a more intimate knowl-
cdg. and juster appreciation of the de-
tails, clung to his "corner in matri-
mony," and placed it first.
perhaps the fact that he shared ‘he
K:„r\ and the spoils—with two part- ners, one of them the only woman,
\ tring or old, lie ever enthused over,
swayed his judgment. At the beginning of the winter sea-
son. the stock exchange house of Wil-
lis Barr & Co. had opeiied a branch dice at Palm Beach for the conveni-
ence of its customers who were win
tering at the Florida resort, John Mar-
shall, whose father had teen one of
jiarr's stanchest friends in the old
Chicago days, was transferred from
the New York office, where h* had
been placed by Barr after the father's a, nth, in straitened circumstances, to
thp Palm Beach branch.
John Marshall, who was always "Young John" to Barr in spite of his six feet of aggressive manhood, had viewed this ostracism with competing .motions While he recognized the
opportunity present, d, under Bai r's keen eye, to prove his ability as man-
ager of the office, a stepping-stone to
high r place, there were personal rea- sons, which, however, were not entire- ]v :n rsi i I. since lie believed them to
he shared by one other, ter which he would gladly have accepted New York, even as a winter resort.
To Palm P ach he went, feeling more or less like a martyr, hut the season was hardly under way before he received a convincing proof of the virtue of self-denial. It was in the form of a note, in a wide, mannish hand, from Elizabeth Rogers, the daughter of Morton Rogers, the presi- dent of the United Trust company, and head of the Urban Traction system, announcing her near departure for Palm Peach in company with her mother.
John’s thoughts on receipt of the note underwent a series of fluctuations curiously like those of some harassed stock under the manipulation of Joseph \Y Parr.
For Morton Rogers had views as to Elizabeth’s future which had so far failed tu run parallel with those of It hn The president of the United Trust company, a bulwark of the old 11 bool of finance, had opinions of Jo- seph \Y. Parr which Included, impar- tially. everyone connected with the w« tern operator.
In his estimation anyone wtio nr
cepted employ with Parr might fairly he regarded as one of the crew' o? it
pirate, ready at the word of command to scuttle and quite sink the fairest ship afloat on the financial seas.
While till this was it matter of regret to John it troubled him les than it
might have had Elizabeth seemed to take a different view of the situation. She was a young woman of riotous in- <]■ i mii nce and ueienninauon, wno
might he counted on, under provoea- *to take lier father's stubborn will
le1 had often taken five bars In a
bight across country with hounds. She accepted the young westerner
frankly as a good comrade. sh< liked him because he never sawed his 'I-1' mi's mouth into bleeding patche- **" that she might get in at the death ! -! hi' won if he could, lie work. 1 1 oiiestly to heat ln r eighteen up on
iln links, although it was seldom more
lhan two llnally, for her drms and brassie shots were those of a fit. Au- di'1 ws’ professional.
On the night before ills departure for Palm Roach, John had called on Elizabeth and under the influence of the coming separation had spoken more freely than usual of their plight.
It's no use, Hess." he said, finally, in mock despair, after they had touched lightly from many sides the parental firmness. "I've got to put through s°me kind of a deal that will establish im as the Napoleon of finance, and 'hen I'll win recognition— I don't care for the money."
I intend to lie a syndicate member hi that segue deal," retorted Elizabeth.
Yes, i will he a syndicate of two— babes in the financial woods,” said John And they laughed, perhaps not finite heartily,
As it. turned out, however, it was a
syndicate of three, and as for the babes—it is difficult to believe that Jo-
pn \v Harr ever tolerated swaddling clothes of any sort.
1 hree weeks after the arrival cj Mrs. fhogors and Hlizebeth at Palm Hopeh 'here came an unwelcome telegram rc»m Morton Rogers. The banker was
coming for a ten days’ visit with his family, u was a message which
brought Elizabeth and John, incident- ally, to the point of sedition.
Curiously enough, the coming of the banker was coincide nt with the arrival at tho resort ( f two other financiers, Henry T. Wilson of Philadelphia and Andrew F. Haines of New York, liven more curious, however, was the fact that Messrs. Wilson and Haines were, with Morton Rogers, the important in- ters ts in the Urban Traction system.
This coincidence did not escape John, who •telegraphed the news of the meeting of the traction rnen to Willis, Ibi’T & Co. in the firm's cipher, and received an answer bidding him to be alert for developments. So far as
John could learn, however, there was no j rolonged conferences of the three men, although they were much to- gether in public.
At the end of the appointed ten days the hanker left for the north, and on
the following day the young people, who had seen little of each other dur- ing his visit, shouldered their golf bags and set out for an afternoon on the links.
When they had holed out on the ninth green, Elizabeth, who had for some time been in the grip of a mood that puzzled John sorely, suggested that they rest for a moment. Once at ease on tho soft turf she opened the pocket of Tier golf bag and withdrew from it with an air of mystery two lit- tle packets. Turning back the sieves of h'T jersey, after the recognized can-
ons of legerdemain, she held tip the packets before John's wonder-filled eyes.
i I have here in my hands,” she be- ; gan, in the staccato of the variety j stage, "two little packages—”
Has anyone in the audience a high i hat?” called John, bowing deeply to
j 'be amazed caddies, who were pitching | pennies near by.
iiit in lie in, roniinuru ruizaDein.
bestowing a withering look on the en-
thusiastic young man, "is a map pf Westchester county, and the other a
copy of a telegram sent by Morton Rogers of the I'rban Traction system to the road's counsel—"
"Whew-oo-o,” whistled John, serious this time at least.
“Both of them.” went on the girl, in t he* stagy voice, which was breaking just a little now, “my contribution to "the syndicate that is to crown John Marshall as the young Napoleon of finance."
"Bess, what in the world do you mean—what does this mean?"
"It means I'm a traitor to my dad. Oh. John, isn't it horrible. But you must prbmise me one thing. I don't care about your old deals—1 want you to get all the glory you can. because— well, just because—but I just insist that you promise not to make dad lose any money."
"I do promise," said John, very earnestly. "I promise even without knowing the consequences—even if I
j lose the glory." "That's a good boy. Now you tell
me what these tilings mean I've puz- I zled over them for days."
"Why. the map shows the streets and roads of Westchester county- -by
i.lovc!—thev'v marked the line of the Suburban Trolley system in bine, and here’s a long, red line from the ter-
minus of the Suburban down Bingham avenue to—
"Let's see the telegram. Bess. I’m um That’s right— listen; '<io ahead with Bingham franchise; (signed) —
It.
"That’s it. The Urban is going to 1 get a franchise to lay trucks up Bing- ! r>:;m avenue to connect with the Sub- I urban system--here where the bitu I line ends, Hess, see? The red line shows where the new road will run.
"That means they’re going to buy mt ihe Suburban, oith- r in the open
l market or from th<- big holders pri- vately Mat be they've bought it al- ready—”
"No," broke in th girl, who was
looking over tiis shoulder. I know
;hey haven't bought it yet They're waiting to see how the franchise is
coming out. They're asking for it in the name of a fictitious company.”
"Hess, I don’t know about this. If
anyone else knew what we know there would be trouble in plenty for the Ur- ban and your father. It’s a pretty dangerous experiment—”
"You promised dad shouldn’t lose
anything. It’s only fame we want, you know.”
"Yes, but—by Jove!—I’ve got It. We’ll send for Mr. Harr. We’ll tell him frankly just why we want to put through this little deal—if >ou don't mind his knowing—about you and me,
Hess. You know he was an old friend of my father. He’ll help us out. He
just pines for deals like this. He’ll put it through without harming a hair of
—anybody’s head. You don't mind his
knowing, Bess, do you?’ "No-o. Not if you tell him—but
that makes three in our syndicate," she added, with a pout.
"But he’s only our broker—the syn- dicate’s broker," declared John, laugh- ingly. "Besides, if we went it alone we might end up by ruining your father. Whew-oo-o," and he whistled
softly, awe-stricken at this phase of the deal.
Elizabeth’s eyes twinkled mischiev- ously as they rested on the woe begone face of the young man. Then:
"Sic semper tyrannis,” sho whis- pered, blushing tremendously.
"Bully," cried John—and the waiting caddies set off in high disgust at the unprofessional conduct of these two who pretended to play golf.
Joseph W. Barr tilted back his chair, adjusted his feet comfortably on the opened drawer of his desk and read for the third time a cipher message which the telegraph clerk of Willis, Ban & Co. had pust brought in to him.
"It’s from young John at Balm Beach, Willis," he explained to In- partner. ‘The boy has stumbled into something In connection with t’rl in
| Traction, but he's devilish incoherent
j Wants to come up here or me to conn
i down there—‘personal,’ he says, and ‘can't send details by wire.’ "
"Why don't you run dov n to Balm Beach. Mr. Barr? You haven't had a
! day off in months. I’erhaps the bo lonesome—and ho may have some
news worth while. "It’ll do you good, anyway," add'd
Willis. “There’s nothing doing here just now.”
“I'll do it,” said Barr, with quick de- cision. And the same evening found him slipping away to the south.
With some confusion of words hut with straightforward manliness, John told Barr the uttermost details ot the “syndicate's” scheme. He did not fail to lay bare the real purpose of tin deal, nor did lie forget to mention his promise to Elizabeth that her father should suffer no actual loss.
He touched this part of his commu-
nication eo tactfully that the egg shaped little broker, who had been striving with increasing difficulty to
keep countenance, finally broke into a
gale of laughter. John’s face grew long. lie was
half inclined to be offended at such a
reception of his plans. Hut little by little, as he watched breeze after breeze of mirth sweep his chief, the real humor of the whole situation bore in on him. and he was soon paying laugh for laugh.
"I can't help it. John. Damn— 1 just can't." cried Harr, mopping up (he tears which coursed down his fat cheeks.
"Me—a buccaneer—a pirate—an old Captain Kidd—butting into a deal as
Cupid. And money, money every- where. and not a solitary white chip for me." And he went off into an-
other spasm with John in close pur- suit.
Tlie eyes opened at last, shining with good will, and a fat, friendly hand went out to John.
"Young John." said the litle broker, quietly, "you’ve got to have that girl; she's worthy your father's son. We'll put this thing through so ship-shape that old Rogers will be proud of both of you. For we'll buy the Suburban for him cheaper than he could get it himself; and I'll gamble he’ll be a
friend of mine. too. when it's all over.
Now, that’s enough of that. 1 want
you to take me out and introduce me
to the girl.” They found Elizabeth hidden away
in a corner of the big piazza. She arose to meet them, and John began, a hit diffidently:
"This is Mr. Harr, Hess—Miss Rog- ers—”
"The syndicate’s broker. Miss Rog- ers,” interrupted Harr, with such a se-
vi rely professional air that both the r.ir! and John forgot the little awk- wardness of the situation and laughed heartily with the little man
When John left them a few minutes later they were deep in a discussion of the value of various girth cinches for cross-country work.
An hour passed, and Ilarr, arraj ed in knickerbockers and a very jaunty goll iap. bustled into John's office.
"Where are your golf sticks, John?" He was almost breathless from his haste. "We’ve just time for eighteen holes before sunset."
i 111 son v. n* gan jouii, uuc 1 ve
got these accounts to fix up—’’ "Nobody's asked you to go," said
Harr, grimly, grabbing the goli bag "I've got to attend to some <1 tails ot
the syndicate matter with Miss Rogers. I Does this cap look all right? Had to
burrow it of the bell boy. "Straight now—is It O K "" queried
tlie little man, anxiously, pushing tin cap from one ear to the other in an exces of zeal.
"It's fine," laughed John "You look like tlie sultan of Sulu Hy Jov< I’m getting jealous, 1 am."
"You’d better bo," panted Harr. And John watelu d him hurr. away in meet K izabe th on tlie lawn, lie made a
sweeping bow. with tlie little cap in hand, to the laughing girl, and they passed from sight.
Harr came in to John at dinner that night all aglow with the exercise of the game.
"She beat me one tip," hi' said, rue-
fully. as lie solicitously tucked the
napkin In around the expanse of linen
exposed by his dinner coat. "One up and by a girl, too; don’t you ever
tell that to John Willis—or her dad. 1 tell you. John, 1 feel like a new man.
I'm half inclined to reform; to mend my wicked ways. If I thought there was one chance in a million of finding that fountain of youth that l’oncc de Peon looked for around here I'd d^ it, too. I'd get in the running with wou.
Hut you can’t teach an old dog new
tricks and I guess I'll have to stick by the old ones. We've got the black flag covered with white this trip, though, and we’re going to make a swift voy- age. and a rich one, for the girl and
you—and I'll have my fun out of it "Damn—I'd like to bting up along-
side that treasure ship of old Roger* cleared for action—um—utu thirteen
men on a dead man’s chest’— But we’ve promised, John, we've promised to be good. How I wish your dad could have lived to see that girl!
"Well, I'll just, hang around here for a few days to get this moral tone cinched I d be afraid to trust myself just yet around Wall street with all this i'rban dynamite in my clothes— and then I'll sail north under the white Hag. I'll wigwag you in to the finish.’’
"It's the most inexplicable thing, Mr. Rogers," declared the perpU xeil c oun-
sel of the I'rban Traction coni pan > to
the banker. "Here not ten days ago the Tammany people practically as-
sured me that there would not he the slightest difficulty in getting the Ring- hum avenue fraticnise through -at the usual rates, of course—and now they re
worse than lukewarm; they seem pos- itlvely against the* franchise.”
Perhaps it is a question of more
money?" hazarded the hanker. "No, I think not. I suggested the
possibility, of an increased campaign contribution, but it did no good 1 fear, just a bit, there is some scheme under way to take advantage of the thing themselves: perhaps the-Suburban peo-
ple have le arned our plans and are trj ing to forestall us?"
"It’s not that," declared the* banker. "I think you’ll find the gang is simply holding us ui). as usual. As for the Suburban, I ni more than ever con-
vinced that we were wise to put off buying tin- stock in the market until the franchise was settled. You'd bet- ter keep up the negotiations; with tin Tammany people a while longe r be- fore applying openly for the franchise. They'll come around with a proposition of some kind, probably.”
Hut the l than counsel coulu make no headway with the Tamamny people. They were playing the game as it had been planned out for them by their good friend Joseph \Y. Harr, whose
sterling q niilies as a plunger at the race meets had endeared him to a
score of powerful district leath rs who
frequented the tracks. To them, and
particularly to 1’ .1. Milligan, who held the below Fourteenth street in the hollow of his itching palm. Barr had outlined a course in regard to the fran- chise which satisfied each desire.
In the meantime, Barr had started his campaign for the control of the Suburban Trolley company. The com-
pany's capital was twenty million dol- lars, and the stock was selling in the market at ninety dollars a share, on
the divid mis of four per cent, paid by the road. To control the company it was therefore necessary to obtain something over one hundred thousand shares, which at market prices meant
a cost ol over nine million dollars. It was no part of Barr’s plan to pay
any such sum for the stock. Ills care-
ful investigation of the financial condi tion of the Suburban convinced him that the stock could he put down to a
figure where the one hundred thousand shares should cost little more than eight million dollars, and of this amount eighty per cent., or six million four hundred thousand dollars, could be borrowed on the stock purchased, lie had promised John that the road should be bought much cheaper than the Urban would have been compelled to pay, and It was a matter of profes- sional pride to evt n exceed this prom- ise.
The inquiries into the Suburban's af- fairs had disclosed such a decided loss in earnings through competition of a
recent extenson of the elevated sys-
tem, that a reduction of the four per cent, dividend was inevitable at the ap
proaehing dividend meeting of the di- rectors. This, of course, would assist in putitng down the stock to seventy- five, where Barr coolly determined it
I: houid go. In addition, the little man, whose
sources of information were it matt r
1 of amazement, had discovt red that the I president of the Suburban, who va.-
I also one of the largest individual stock- holders, was tht head of a brewer which was teetering on the edge oi
Ik II l\ U J V > ll UU III' III » WMII' »
lion with a brewery, startled Harr ven more than the unfortunate presi-
dent's name, which was Schliinblnger. To bolster it]) liis brewery President
Sehlindduger had boriowtd money on
liis forty thousand slum s of Suburban stock trout two trust companies. lie
had borrowed to the last cent, and Harr smiled softly at the pleasing pros-
| poet of "shaking out” the forty thou-
| and shares w h< n Suburban tumbled. With these facts in his possession,
ltarr had commissioned various bro hers in his * mploy t'> pick up Suburb an stock at tie market,” which meant
ihe prevailing price of ninety, lie In-
tended to "average down' tills priv later by purchases tit. low* r figures This preliminary move netted him some six thousand shares, and then h*
put under way a raid on all the trie
lion group of stocks, which served the
double purpose of depressing Suburban and yet *d concealing the real move-
ment against it. The raid on the tractions began on
Monday, time weeks after Harr's r*
turn front Palm Ib ach. It was acoom
panic*! b many lurid stories of an-
tagonistic measures to be taken by th<-
municipal authorities regarding fran-
chises, collections ot back taxes, suits
compel big expenditures for * hang* of motive power to electricity, and
other Inventions calculated to bring
dismay to holders of traction stotks
And all these fables, by the grace of
p ,j Milligan, were backed up by the
expressive silence of the Tammany
city authorities. Through these stories, and by the
sheer impact of the thousands of
shares of traction stocks hurled at a
frightened market. Harr drove prices down notch after notch, until oil Wed
nc: day all the tractions were away off
The usually sedate I’rban had lost
lour | cials, and Suburban, the object
of the drive, had fallen eight points, dropping from ninety to eighty-two In three days, while the little man's bro- kers gathered iu sixteen thousand shares.
On Thursday morning, as TJarr had ! foreseen, the Suburban directors met. : and reduced the dividend on the com-
pany's stock from four to two per cent. | On the floor of the Exchange, follow ! ing this announcement, tin avalanche I of traction stocks, loosened from their I moorings by Harr, struck the market, and the entire group fluttered toward
! lower figures like a mammoth balloon ! despoiled of its gas. i Harr was hovering over the ticker in
| hia inner office, mopping his face as
! usual, when the announcement cane- oi the Suburban dividend cut. lie scanned the tape until it printed off a three- point drop in the stock, and then clap- ping his tint on his head he made his way down Uroad street to the offices of 1’resident Srhlimbingi r of the Su- burban Trolley company.
Once in the presence of that bar I assert German gentleman he came
j straight to the point. "Some clients of our house, Mr
Seblim—binger, have commissioned us
to try to get your holdings of Suburb- an Trolley. I don't know that you care
to sell and I tried to till them that 1 didn't think too much of the stock as
a purchase. It's lower now, as I pre- dicted, than the figures they are will-
ing to pay you "
Harr fumbled about in his pocket a
moment, and drew out a check. "Yes. You’ve got forty thousand
shares of stock. It's deposited as col- lateral with trust companies for loans amounting to exactly three million two hundred thousand dollars. The stock is selling now, or was ten minutes ago, at seventy-nine, which makes your forty thousand shares worth forty thousand dollars less than the,amount of your loan. If the trust companies haven't already sold you out, because of your exhausted margin, on behalf of my clients I offer you ’his certified check for your equity over the three million two hundred thousand dollars you’ve borrowed."
Hnrr put tho little piece of paper in
the trembling hand of Schlimbinger. The man's face lighted up with joy.
"It's one hundred and twenty thou- sand dollars," he said slowly.
"Yes," said Harr bitterly; "twice too much. It's four dollars a share above the market, but they would pay it
“My bn wery it again me saves—
aeh Clott—sei danks." And quick tears ; welled to the eyes of this other Esau, 1 who had so nearly despised his birth-
| right for the red pottage of Suburban. He would have wept on tho bosom of
Harr had not the little man so hustled him through the process of signing pa- pers and telephoning the anxious trust
companies. That evening when he had received
reports from his brokers, Harr found that the syndicate was now in posses- sion of a little over seventy-seven thou- sand live hundred shares of Suburban. This included the forty thousand shares from Schlimbinger and fifteen thousand shares his brokers had gar- nered during the day. He sent off a
telegram to John, summoning him to Xew York, and arranged to fill his place at Palm Beach.
Then, as if to sponge the slate clean of sentiment, he called in two of his confidential brokers and arranged for a savage attack on tho whole market.
"I want Suburban to go to seventy- five by noon on Saturday,” he said, with a vicious snap, and I want you to get thirty thousand shares of the stock by then.”
When the Exchange opened on tho following morning there was a w < I dehned rumor on tho floor that a "Eg interest'” in Suburban was about to he old out by a trust company, which
had loaned him vast sums of money on j he stock. The rumor gained birth as j
it went, and its ramifications soon in- j : eluded a startling arraj of reports of ;
ailurt-s, defalcations and general i
< rimes against the constituted oril< r j ■ 1 tilings.
Almost the first transaction on the ;
floor w ;is a sale of one thousand shares ;
I oi Suburban at seventy eight, a point older Thursday's closing price, and
•of three hundred, five hundred and on>--
thuusnnd-sbare lots, which broke the I pi :ce to seventy-six before the end of
>i < first hour The Hour was convince 1 i' the truth (>f Hie story of drat tie nr-
tu,n l,y the trust company, especially the si hitig outne from brokers who
; nfii n acUd for it. l lii iv was no way m idling n.u um
1 'ock apparently hurled haphazardly | ■ tie market simply passed from \ .it's light hand to his open h it
tuough "wash" sales b; brokers in hi., employ Kven the brokers ei..
j ployed did net know this, and the r< | !! was a big bleak in the entire mar- |
Itet. The tremendous selling, with tin j
slump had its effect It brought forth Sat.urban stock from the hands of in- vestors and speculators, who. thor-
oughly frightened by the panicky ap-
pearance of the marki t. and the wild
flight downward of Suburban, threw overboard a stock which no one
seemed to want at any price. Hut at two o’clock there came a sud-
den change in the market's course.
Prom the floor, John Willis hurried over to Harr a note, which said:
"Brokers usually acting for Rogers and Prhnn taking Suburban. Don’t dare sell any more stocks short, and mu buy ing back tractions to cover pre- vious sales.”
Morton Rogers and his fellow asso-
iates in the Prban Traction company had watched for some days, w ith grow
ing amazement, the behavior of the traction stocks in which they were In- terested. So long as all the tractions hung together on the decline, they had
agreed in attributing the movement to
a bear raid for quick profits. When, however. Suburban Trolley cut away
from Its follows on Friday, ttmVrban people promptly came to the conclu- sion that the stock was being purpose- ]v depressed by Tammany Interests, who Intended to buy It low, and sell it high after the llingham avenue fran- < htse had been granted.
Convinced that this was the true ex- planation of the weakness of Suburb- an, Mr. Rogers and his friends Immedi- ately formed a pool to buy the stock. They were perfectly sure that Tam- many Interests would not be buying it unless they meant to grant the fran- chise. Pile pool was formed at one 0 clock, and at two o'clock Its opera- tions had turned the tide of the mar-
ket. Suburban rallied from seventy- six to seventy-eight and one-half at the close, anil its rally bolstered tho whole market which had been fast slipping into a panic.
Barr hr d feared from the first lhat tho low price to whiih he intended to
j drive Suburban would attract buying by the l'than Interests, and ho had ta- ken his measuii s accordingly. In loss than fifto< n minutes after Willis’ mes-
sage reached him. two trusted clerks were on the way to Westchester coun-
ty with orders to visit local holders of the stock and to buy it from them at any prlc« It had cost Barr one thou- and dollars to secure a list of stork-
holders of the road. On Saturday morning, before tho
opening of the Exchange, Itarr’H i< m-
oranda from his brokers and the two 1 lerks showed him to be in possession of a little loss than ninety-eight thou- sand shares of Suburban. A short, sharp battle I allowed on the floor of the Exchange for tho shares needed for control. Entler tho competitive bidding of bis own and the Urban brokers the stock scrambled hastily to ■ ighty, to eighty five, and finally to
ninety. But the street had boon swept so bare of it that at the close at noon
Harr was still a few houndred shares hort of actual control of the Suburban
i roiiey eomi any. The little man smiled mysteriously
as he exhibit* d the results of his cam-
paign to John, who had arrived that morning from Palm Heach.
‘‘It's all right, John," he declared. You can inform Miss Rogers, official-
ly, if you dare, that the great matri- mony syndicate is about to cash in."
Late that afternoon the resplendent hut puzzled usher at the door of the United Trust company performed au-
tomatically the duty of introducing Joseph \v. Harr into the private office
f President Morton Rogers. An the little man passed his window the pay-
ing telli r whistler softly a few musical liars which he gruvt ly explained to his assistant were from the opera, "Pirates of Finance.”
When the frosted glass door of the
private office bad clicked after the dis-
appearing form of Harr, business came
to a prompt halt in the United Trust
company. The third vice-president and the cashier sauntered over to the desk of the second vice-president, and, infused with a similar desire for com-
panionship, tellers, clerks, messengers
and attendants drifted into little
groups. There was an air of expectancy over
all the groups. To complete the scene
It needed only a half-crazed little Ital- ian to wave a red rag on n stick and to point, frantncally, appealingly, at the private office, as If within it a thin train of powder, sizzling, sput- tering, glowworming its way toword its tremendous goal.
The explosion came. It was a burst of laughter that shook the frost* U glass partitiona of the private ofllee. it wav
followed fast by others until, ralhef sheepishly, the little group of auditors broke up, and tin- wheels of the United Trust/ company spun busily again, leav- ing unsolved the riddle of the private office.
Within that was presented the plead- ing sight of a thin elderly gentleman, with Dundreary whiskers, engaged in a
vain attempt to keep on his Roman ra i- eyi via es which hounded off and away with each of many peals of laughter, and pposite him a fat, little man. intermltteiil; engaged in mopplDg Ills wet chee ks with hsindkerehn-f ends, at.el saying tilings wide h se-e-me-el ealcn- lareel. ve ry possibly, to prolong the
mirth of the other. My own daughter—Kll/abeth.”
-.-a p<il Mi Morton Roge rs, coming out
l a convulsion to fall hopoles-ty Into •another.
Ye and my buy lehn moaned i. -e ph \V. Harr, almost stm llmring
himself in the mopping proe e-s-.i
I'-ought eontrol of the Bubiuiian for gbt ini 11 ie n dollars n 11 it to us- tor
■i.i 'line w- expected to pay nlflS illion five hundred thousand dollars
t least" \ml anothet gale howled e ver the* ITl tin magnate
No* quit- e-ontiol Von spe-tled our
game on ITielay Hack two hundred hares And th: re' was subtle datte.-ry
in Harr's words. "You've got the syn- dicate at our mercy."
"And tin* Bingham avenue fran- chise?" epierled the banker adjusting his glasses at last.
The syndicate put 1’ .1 Milligan hort of twenty thousand sbaei-i of
; toe'; and e oveteel it three poR t e lower
on the- break, netting him sixty thou- sand dollars. Here’s his ree • l| i
"‘Whe-re's there a cave o stow
away all tills dough? Bingham trun
e-hlse- goes through on Monday-- more
dough- from the Urban Do >■ ■•. want the city hall for a branch otfb V
"Hum- uni. commenied tu li.tnker, doubtfully. More dough ri.-m ttu>
Urban.’ "Well," said Harr, reassmini’ty 1
won’t put in any bill this lime
"Hood," saiel the banker, wdb a sigh of mock re-lief. "The syndleab oIRr is accepted "
"In toto?” queried Barr, will’ tolfned anxiety.
"In toto," answered the banker. "The young scamps."